Trouble yourselves no further. Pray you hasten
Your generals after.
Don't make any more effort on our behalf. Please hurry and bring your generals along.
You don't need to worry about us. Just make sure your generals get there as soon as they can.
don't stress. get your generals moving
Sir, Mark Antony
Will e’en but kiss Octavia, and we’ll follow.
Sir, Mark Antony will just kiss Octavia goodbye, and then we'll follow.
Sir, Mark Antony's just going to say goodbye to Octavia, and then we're heading out.
antony's just kissing octavia goodbye then we're going
Lepidus is one of Shakespeare's most carefully drawn peripheral characters — always present, never central. He was the third triumvir of the real Roman world, brought in by Antony and Caesar as a useful ally with forces to contribute and a famous name. But from the beginning, his role in Shakespeare's play is to smooth things over and be managed. Here, even the departure logistics place him last — he takes the longer route while the others 'win two days' on him. It's a small detail that encapsulates his position perfectly. He will shortly be eliminated from the triumvirate by Caesar, who annexes his territories. The servants in 2.7 will observe his drunkenness with a kind of contemptuous pity. Shakespeare gives him dignity but no weight.
Till I shall see you in your soldier’s dress,
Which will become you both, farewell.
Until I see you in your military uniform, which will look good on both of you, goodbye.
See you when you're dressed in your armor—you'll both look great in it. Goodbye.
see you in your armor. bye
We shall,
As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount
Before you, Lepidus.
Based on how I understand the journey, we'll be at the Mount before you, Lepidus.
The way I figure it, we should get to the Mount before you do, Lepidus.
we'll beat you to the mount
Your way is shorter;
My purposes do draw me much about.
You’ll win two days upon me.
Your route is more direct; my path takes me in a much longer direction. You'll get there two days ahead of me.
Your path is shorter, but mine goes the long way around. You'll arrive about two days before me.
your route's faster. i'm going around. you'll beat me by two days
This is a structural 'bridge' scene — a brief passage of no dramatic weight that moves characters and the audience from one location to another. Shakespeare uses these constantly in his history plays and political tragedies. They serve several functions: they keep the geography of the world alive; they let the audience absorb what just happened before the next major scene; and they signal that the world of the play continues moving even when we're not watching the main characters. In a play as sprawling as Antony and Cleopatra — which covers the entire Mediterranean world — these transitional scenes are especially necessary. They remind the audience that this is a world in motion, not just a series of tableau confrontations.
Sir, good success!
Sir, good success!
Sir, good success!
sir, good success!
Farewell.
Farewell.
Farewell.
farewell.
The Reckoning
Shakespeare uses these brief bridging scenes to control the pace of the play and move all the pieces into position. This is pure practical Roman business — no rhetoric, no emotion, no subtext. Its function is structural: after the emotional weight of 2-3 (Antony privately deciding to abandon his marriage), this one-minute scene resets the register, signals that the Roman world keeps moving on its rails regardless of private decisions, and gets everyone to Misenum for the Pompey negotiations. Lepidus's role here is characteristic: he's the facilitator, the man who oils the machinery, not someone who drives it.
If this happened today…
Three executives are leaving a conference. Two catch an early flight; the third has a longer route. They exchange departure times and wish each other well at the door. That's it. The meeting is over; now everyone gets where they need to go.